The Compass bears testimony to a personal pilgrimage, the poet’s quest for self-knowledge and rebirth. Morrissey writes about the individual in relation to family and society. In The Compass Stephen Morrissey examines the lives of his ancestors; he goes deeply into marriage, divorce, and the complexities of modern family life; he celebrates Eros, romance, and the healing transformative powers of love. The Compass is a present day “hero’s journey” into the psychic underworld; Morrissey’s voice is a masculine one, unafraid of expressing emotions from a male perspective. The poetry of Stephen Morrissey is grippingly confessional. Here is a poet who believes in honesty, personal integrity, and art. In a richly cadenced verse, he offers his own personal experience, illuminated with authentic psychological insight.